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The AmCoach Brings Relief for the Drivers
Working the World Trade Center Disaster 911
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Bob Hataway served coffee & passed out gloves |
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Every truck had to come right by us |
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The smiles made it all worthwhile |
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This driver was proud of his Pennzoil gloves |
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These I-Beams were approx 4" thick by 18" |
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Hundreds of cars suffered damage |
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Posters were everywhere for the missing |
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The German press interviews Bob Hataway |
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Bob and Carol Hataway left for New York City on September 24th arriving on Friday the 28th of September. They set up near a landfill area on Staten Island where the debris was being brought from the WTC. Each truck leaving the landfill area had to go right by the AmCoach as there was a one lane exit. Bob and Carol spent 6 days with the drivers and visited the city one day when it rained. Bob said, “It was a tremendous experience to work with the drivers. For the first few days, they seemed to be in a trance as they came through our area, but then they began to accept us by the 3rd day." Drivers said that the “pile” captivated them every time they went for a load. They could not believe it nor take their eyes from it. Bob and Carol provided them with work gloves from Pennzoil, inspirational tapes from Hope Haulers in Nashville, and coffee provided by Werner Enterprises, J J Keller, and Class 8 Flooring. PathMark Food Stores in Staten Island donated apples. They wanted to give the drivers something to brighten their day as they came out of the landfill area going back downtown. New York has been brought to its knees by this devastating attack. The streets that usually have great numbers of people were deserted. There was an eerie quietness as you heard only muffled voices talking and an occasional siren or truck going for its load. At one point Bob and Carol were the only two people on a usually crowded section of Broadway near the WTC area. He reported that the devastation of the WTC area was totally unbelievable -- an entire corporate complex just leveled with nothing but a pile of rubble left. Death was evident everywhere from the abandoned cars to the twisted metal. When they located new victims, everything stopped until the remains were properly handled. There was an awesome reverence surrounding the work site. Hataway went on to state that in the midst of the doom and gloom there is an even greater air of optimism. The spirits of the drivers are high. They know that they will come back as a city and that they will be a significant part of the rebuilding team. They know that it will not be easy, but it will happen. In the meantime, they dutifully carry out their respective tasks to the best of their ability. TransAlive USA through its AmCoach program was the representative for the transportation industry and was directly involved with helping the drivers working the World Trade Center. TransAlive USA is a non-profit organization providing crisis intervention for truckers founded by Bob Hataway in 1984. They operate through 100,000 volunteers who cover every zip code across the country. This year they have added the AmCoach. When drivers are released from hospitals, but cannot travel sitting up, the AmCoach brings them home. Bob stated that in the past the only resource for getting drivers home was charter air service at a substantial cost to the carrier or the family. The AmCoach is a 1984 Eagle motor coach that can be configured for the driver’s comfort along with a bathroom, kitchen facilities and a drivers lounge area for the family that travels with the driver. Bob Hataway is a Chaplain endorsed by the Southern Baptist Convention through the North American Mission Board and is a graduate of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Ft Worth, TX. Hataway called for prayer for the many drivers who are still working and will be working for many months to come in clearing the debris from the World Trade Center in New York City in the year 2001. For more information, you may call Bob Hataway at 800 USA HURT or email Bob_Hataway@transalive.com. |